Scientific and Useful

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 15, 13 April 1907, Page 33

Scientific and Useful

NEURALGIA. Dr. Hocnmayer says that neuralgia of the tongue is extremely rare, and yet in the last year he has seen three cases of the affection. All of the patients were men, moderately nervous, and suffering from chronic constipation. The pain involved only the domain of the lingual (tongue) nerve, and the anterior third of the tongue was not included in the painful area. In each case a cure was effected by iclieving the tendency to constipation, and the doctor ascribes the condition to the absorption of poisons from the intestines. Who knows how many other cases of neuralgia in other parts of the body might not l»e relieved in a similar manner? © © © SLEEPLESS NIGHTS. Here is a simple and available recipe —a medicinal bath for the nervously worn and those who cannot sleep of nights. It was the prescription of an old physician. Take of sea salt 40z., spirits of ammonia 20z., spirits of camphor 20z., of pure alcohol Boz.. and sufficient hot water to make a full quart of the liquid. Dissolve the sea salt in the hot water, and let stand until cool. Pour into the alcohol the spirits of ammonia and camphor. Add the salt water, shake well, and bottle for use. With a soft sponge dipped in this mixture wet over the surface of the whole body. Rub vigorously until the skin glows. When nervous or “blue” or wakeful, do not omit this bath. The rest and refreshing that follow will amply repay the effort required to prepare it. © © © HOLLOW WARE AND JAPAN. But what is “hollow ware?” and what is “japan?” At some works, such as those 1 looked over in Wolverhampton, you can see both in all their varieties (says a writer in a London contemporary). One of the earliest adaptations of Nasmyth's steam-hammer was to the wrought iron hollow ware trade, the thin sheets being stamped and stamped, each time with a deeper die. until they form basins and bowls. and other domestic sundries of everyday life. “Thump! Thump!” go the hammers, and after every thump the thing being stamped gets a shift to the left, so that the die mav never fall twice in the same place, and thus break the fibre of the metal. It is wonderful how the iron or steel can be stretched so without cracking, but long practice has minimised all risk of that sort, and Wolverhampton stamps, as it solders and brazes, with a facility that seldom fails. The enamel makes its first appearance here as a glass, and is mixed and ground in heavy mills until it is of the consistency of whitewash. Swiftly and smoothly it is laid on. a or a brush round and the covering is complete, ready for tiring. You see the white kitchen bowls laid on a carriage, each on a sort of crown that touches it in the fewest, places to bo firm. The iron door opens, and into the glowing furnace they are run and the door shut on them. You see the door open; all looks rosy red within; but as the bowls come out they change in colour, the pale rose dies away into a faint flush, and when they reach the broad daylight they are white. As it is with the howls so it is with other things of other colours, though some change colour, as. for instance. army water-bottles, which go in white and come out brown. It is not only domestic utensils that are thus stamped and enamelled. Enamelled iron signs, the names of streets and railway stations, and so forth, are made in this way. The quantities are large, for it is not only the homo trade that has to be supplied. There are American cities that owe their st root-name-plat es to Wolverhampton, and American railways that come to it for their station boards, and the advertisements in different languages

show how wide the distribution must be. In some cases the enamel is stencilled on, in others it is painted on, in others it is rubbed on as a powder by girls wearing the respirators required by the Board of Trade, although the table is perforated all over, and a current of air draws down the dust through the holes. © © © ALUNDUM. A now material having remarkable abrasive properties, and considered far superior to emery, is announced as a product of the electric furnaces at Niagara. The substance is produced from the amorphous oxide of aluminium, known as bauxite, which has hitherto been considered absolutely infusible. No ordinary furnace can touch this material, but under the persuasive power of the electric arc it can be fused into a liquid mass, purified, and finally crystallised out into a substance which is practically a mass of tiny rubies and sapphires. The ingots of alundum. as it is called, are broken up by powerful crushers, and then passed through a series of rollers to reduce them to various sizes of grain. From the grains, after thorough screening, various grinding-whe?ls and sharpen-ing-stones are made. Alundum is said to be considerably harder than natural corundum, to be quite free from water in combination, and to have all the properties of emery in a still higher degree. © © © LIFE OF ELECTRIC LAMPS. Long life is not the only attribute of a good electric lamp, and too many people make the mistake of believing that one lamp is more economical than another merely because it burns longer. At last two other factors must be considered—maintenance of candle-power and cost of the current consumed. The lamp which combines with long life a uniform candlepower and minimum-power consumption is the best lamp, and each of these factors should be reckoned with in determining which is the best and most economical lamp to use. A lamp which has burned SOO hours and not reduced much in candlepower or increased much in power requirements, has done well enough and is usually at the point where it would be economical to replace it with a new one, oven though it will still burn. Though this policy is expensive, it would be more expensive in most cases to burn the old lamps, as the cost of the excess power consumed and the inferior quality of light, because of reduced candle-power, would more than off-set the eo-t of new lamps. © © © MORE SPIRIT RAPPINGS. There is said to be a revival of Spirilualism, both in England and abroad. Possibly the new generation has forgo! ten the exposures of the last. In any case the “spirits” have recently been much in evidence, particularly in Grenoble. I here they have nranaged to bewilder, i hough not to convince, an exceedingly sceptical police force. The house at which they “manifest” is in the Rue du Lyeee, and so noisy have the knockings .an! hammerings become that the neighbours have complained to the authorities. Accordingly, the head of the detective department paid the place a visit ami asked certain questions. These, so the pretty story finis, were obligingly answered by the “spirits” themselves by means of a “knock” alphabet.” The officer was told that the unseen ouch had engagements that would take them elsewhere until a certain date, when they would ba in the Rue Lycce again. The detective accordingly, on the night named. Surrounded the house with police, aiid placed others all over the premises inside. But he caught no spirits. He only heard them, ami so . did his men, for the “knockers,” by means -of the code which had been published, told various things, about the official's private life tlpat were edi-

tying. He is furious, ami Grenoble i-» amused. If he w islws to turn the tables, in the figurative sense, he should engage the services of a good professional conjuror. 'Die latter can always beat the. ‘spirits” at their own game, and would no doubt bring about an exposure und an arrest. Both are needful, in the interests of the credulous folk who fall such easy victims to spiritualistic fraud.